The main attraction of having a summer internship is of course the experience you’d get from being in a real-world work environment with real world responsibilities. Obviously, you would expect to learn a lot about business or sales or marketing or what have you, but I think this summer I’ve learned much a great deal about “adulting”. Adulting is anything that someone my age hates to do it seems, things that they should really start teaching in schools, but they just don’t. For example, I have never written a check in my life, I have no idea how mortgages work, and I couldn’t tell you the first thing about insurance.

Blame it on my age, technology, or my generations “laziness” but I haven’t ever been hindered by not knowing these things. For one, any time I have a minor inconvenience I call my mother to explain anything. While it’s great to have such a safety net to fall back on, it’s about time to learn how to be an adult. I told Chris about this and he said (jokingly) it’s time to stop being a Mama’s Boy.

Now that I am 3 years removed from living at my house full time and primarily staying at school, I want to take back all the times when I was younger where I said I can’t wait to grow up, I was clearly not aware of what I was getting myself into. One instance that I remember this summer was that I had to fill out a W-4 tax form which is a standard tax form, but it might as well have been Chinese to me. I say all of this to say that I have been pushed out of my comfort zone in many ways to say the least.

For the first time ever, I created a budget since I live alone and am responsible for all my meals and travel. I started meal prepping to save money on food and I don’t have a gym in walking distance, so I must self- motivate myself to go to the gym. While there is still much to learn about being an adult I am slowly but surely making the transition even though I’m only at a beginner level taste of Adult life.

What amazes me most about Adulting is that there is no set way to do anything, and we literally grow up our whole lives in a system of structure. From the time we’re able our days are planned whether we are in school, or summer camp, or sports… its all planned. We finally get to college and afterwards there isn’t someone making us do what we must do and there isn’t ever an exact best way to do something. The only real way of learning is from you own experience or somebody else’s It’s ironic because I intern at a company that teaches Scrum (amongst other things) but essentially there is a focus on learning how to be better based on previous experiences which is also a key for “adulting”. Moral of the story: it’s ok to be a Mama’s boy.

Andrew

Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.

Each crowd that beLithe teaches is different. This week really put into perspective how different people can perceive the course training, which really got me thinking about perspective. Each class, company, group of people, or even each individual person will come out with a different perspective or experience than the last. Each person or class will take something with them that the last group didn’t. That is why it is important to be open to all people and ideas when implementing an Agile/SCRUM framework to your business or lifestyle. When you are open to the ideas that go along with this course, the experience and knowledge you take with you is even more beneficial.

All these different perspectives of the course training can be positive when they enter into a business that uses a version of Agile because each person can contribute something new and different to the team. Hearing from people of all different backgrounds allows the teams to be the best team that they can be. When the team has marketing, computer software, or psychology backgrounds, this allows the team to look at the project from all different angles and create ideas or solutions that a traditional team wouldn’t.

Those who aren’t as open to Agile tend to ask, Why do I need to learn Agile if I am just an individual? Agile is a mindset that can be applied to anyone’s daily life, despite their background. As a student, I could apply Agile or the SCRUM framework to any of my group or term projects. It can be applied to the way you approach a class, consistently doing work and checking in with the teacher to make sure you’re on the right track. Applying Agile can not only improve your work, but change the way you approach your school work or work.

Maddie

Madalyn Hill is a Junior Marketer plying her wares at beLithe. Madayln will start her senior year at University of Dayton this fall.

I have gotten to see the Scrum training first-hand now six times and I now it really has started to sink in, so much so that I even have had thoughts on how I would change the fundamentals of Scrum. In the Scrum guide there are 5 fundamental values that are essential to Scrum. The last of which is “Respect”. This may be the Rhetoric Major in me speaking but I think there is a better word for this fifth value. So I propose that Respect be replaced with the word “Trust”.

As it is meant in the teaching of Scrum, Respect is actually used as a mutual agreement between two people that if you say you will do something you will do it, or that you don’t have to constantly check on someone to make sure their doing the right thing. This aligns more with the word trust than respect to me. The words are alike in this way: you have to give it to also receive it. This mutuality is what makes this a critical part of every tea. You eliminate worry when you know that the people you work with trust in you like you trust in them.

I discussed this thought with Chris during a break in training, and I mentioned that if I were to rename it I might change the word to trust. He used the example that rendered both the words to mean the same thing. Suppose you have a boss that checks in on you and micro-manages your progress every 10 minutes to make sure you are getting work done, you would not be very happy with your job. Whereas you work with somebody who trusts that you have enough respect for the work that you do and also respects the fact that someone trusts in you to get your work done, I can guarantee that you will be happier with your work.

Without Trust, there is no need to make sure you get the best and the brightest people to work for you. You make an investment into everyone that works for your business, so why not give them the freedom to do their best work. From an employee standpoint you will see that if your higher-ups or even your equals trust you to get the job done you then will also be inclined to do your best work. Then you will trust in your coworkers as well.

Overall If no change to the Scrum Values is made which it is unlikely so, I would at least like for people to think about trust going hand in hand with respect. Trust is foundational way of showing that respect that is necessary in Scrum. It only makes sense that trust become apart of the Scrum Values as it is synonymous with respect.

Andrew

Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.

At the time I am writing this, I have completed my 5th full week of interning here at beLithe and I guess I’ve learned the ropes well or at least so I think. I have now completed 9 days of the Scrum training with Chris and have facilitated activities in the last 6 days or so. Getting more involved has been, in a word, interesting. I figured now is a good time to write about what I’ve learned from taking a stab at leading some of the training.

While I have only lead the activities and not the PowerPoint sections of the training, still I think I have picked up on a few valuable things. Admittedly, I am not a yeller and honestly. I don’t have a loud voice. So I sometimes struggle to get the attention of the group once we break up into the activities. This is one thing I would desperately like to get better at. However, I have picked up on a few tricks that help make it easier, like when time is running out you give them a countdown rather than just saying “times up” or keeping the groups spaced out but not far enough that they can’t all hear you.

As much as it pains me to say that most of the time when we struggle to gain the attention of the group, it is when we do training for groups of college age students. I hate to put down my age group, but it is a common struggle. What I have noticed is that college age students also are more inquisitive and have the best questions, so it is a mixed bag.

Another thing I have noticed is during one of the activities where the self-organized teams are asked to move from station to station to answer various “myth or fact” questions. Most teams will get through the questions quickly and never need all the time that you give them. But then there is usually one group that takes almost all five minutes to answer the 10 questions. Whenever we get to the review part of the activity where we go over the answers the team that took the most time usually has the least answers wrong. I think that it benefits people to take their time ensuring that everything goes right versus trying to do your work faster and move on to more work. This is mirrored in Scrum where it is better to attempt to do less work if it means you can do it better over the course of the Sprint.

While I’m far from a professional Instructor I enjoy the process of improving and getting to learn more about instructing. One thing I have noticed from watching Chris is that every time you deliver the training is going to be different in small ways because people themselves are different every day. Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned but you must be able to adapt and keep going. It can be uncomfortable sometimes, but I know that its worth it because I learn something new each time.

Andrew

Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.

After my first full week at beLithe, I feel immersed in the environment. I was able to attend a fast class on Agile, as well as doing the pre-work that went along with it. I cannot say that I am an expert on the subject but I have learned lots.

This week was all about learning agile. I have learned that agile can be applied to many different systems. Although I did not notice at first, I have been working in an agile framework. I work independently, without the constant interruption of a manager, and off a backlog list. This allows me to focus on each objective without pressure or stress of a manager constantly checking up on my progress. I only have to focus on the final product of each objective, which is personally enjoyable. It also doesn’t waste anyone’s time.

I have learned a lot about how I work, personally, throughout the past two weeks. I like to work on something until it is finished, take a break, and then get started on my next objective. This independence in work has forced me to utilize my time wisely. I know that since I don’t have a manager constantly checking up on me, I should be responsible and check in with myself, making sure that I do good work. While this is a system I enjoy, I also have to remember that communication is key. When I don’t understand something or I’m not sure where I am going, to always ask for advice and look for guidance.

Learning about agile and its benefits has been rewarding to my work ethic. I feel more responsible and motivated to get more work done. I want to carry this attitude through the rest of the summer as well as wherever I go.

Maddie

Madalyn Hill is a Junior Marketer plying her wares at beLithe. Madayln will start her senior year at University of Dayton this fall.

While week 2 was a shortened week because of the holiday, it was still jam packed and busy. I’m writing this on a Friday and this was my first day entering the office space at Launch Indy . The first two work days of this week I tagged along with Chris to do training with the TechPoint boot campers at Marian University . This was the first time I saw the training taught to college kids and it went a bit differently than the corporate training we had done with Experian.

We delivered the training in two groups: one in the morning and then another group in the afternoon session. I noticed different things about each group. Regardless of the group, the activities are much more important when you’re dealing with a shorter attention span. The morning group usually came in very lifeless and in a way unmotivated, whereas the afternoon group was more active and tended to speak up more. Also, I got my first shot at leading some of the training, particularly running a couple of the activities. While I am used to speaking in front of a group, it was slightly uncomfortable being in a teaching role because sometimes you must fight to gain the attention of the class. Also, there are times when the group had questions that I didn’t have the answer to, so I had to go back and ask for help from Chris.

Most people know that one of the biggest problems for men is to ask somebody else for help. This is something that I have slowly been getting better at. Then Thursday we went back to Experian to help train another group, this group was experienced with scrum and so the information went much smoother. For me this was now my fifth straight workday sitting through the same training with different groups. So I pretty much knew how the training was going to go and picked up on something new each day. This time at Experian the crowd was mostly all remote, so it was like talking through a TV all day but either way the training went according to plan.

At the outset of my internship I saw how long the training slides were and thought there would be no chance I would be able to learn all the materials but after five days I feel like I could be able to teach the training soon. After talking with Chris, the plan is to be able to help teach some of the material by the end of the summer. Personally, I look forward to this because it is a goal of mine to become comfortable in a teaching environment as opposed to a presentation.

Andrew

Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.

The week of May 21st got off to an early start at 7:30 am when I was formerly introduced to beLithe in the form of a wonderful breakfast of traditional favorites, eggs, sausage, and pancakes with Chris. No big deal, but what was different was that I was given a rundown of my summer duties, introduced to a trello board, and even given the beginnings of Agile training. I spent the majority of my first day trying to get my new toy for the summer (windows surface) working and ready to attack items from my trello board.

I also got my first look at the office where all the work of beLithe is done. The beLithe headquarters is situated in Startup Alley in the Union 525 Building, which will be my new workspace for the summer. Aside from the building being frigidly cold when the air is turned on (which oscillates every 5 minutes), the building has a co-working space that works great when you want to get away from being alone. Most appealing to me is the 3-story slide starting from the top of the building and empties out into courtyard in the center of the building. I haven’t found the entrance to the slide or else I would probably never return to work again, but I’m determined to use it before the summer is over with.

Thursday and Friday were my first introduction to what Scrum training is all about. A 50-minute drive from the far eastside to the 96th and Meridian in the middle of the morning traffic led me to Experian for our first Scrum training session. One of the core values of Scrum is commitment, and a committed worker is a productive worker. Watching Chris deliver the training proved just that, and it made me believe in the Scrum system.

Being new to the whole world of Agile and Scrum, I used this training session to soak up as much information as I could. The team in the class was unique in that we had to teach people remotely as well as in person. Adaptation was the theme of the day as changes had to be made consistently through the day. We generated activities online and had to coordinate them with the students who were in the classroom all while meeting timing deadlines and making sure all the course material was addressed. The second day of training we went to Launch Fishers and delivered training to Eleven Fifty academy. The interesting thing about these training sessions is that even with new groups of participants they all behave in a similar way. From the questions, to their responses in the activities it seems to go the same way every time. I can say that I have been made into a believer after seeing the transformation in a project team after even one day of Scrum training.

Andrew

Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.

It took me a long time to decide on what I wanted to study at my university. Through lots of research I realized that I love both marketing and tech. I want to research and experience these subjects as much as possible and an internship was the perfect way for me to explore this field of study. I want to set a foundation for my future in the workforce as a graduate. An internship would allow me to be in a work environment and learn from those who have been practicing business and marketing for years. I want to learn from those people and be able to apply what I have learned into my studies and into my career going forward.

I hope to learn new skills firsthand from all professionals I will encounter or work with, work on my communication skills, and gain lots of experience and knowledge in marketing and all that goes into it. I want to be able to and be open to versatility. Being a team player and being able to adapt to any situation is a strength I would like to learn from this experience. I also hope to learn all about the work put into and the process of marketing a product. Learning about it in classes is one thing, but experiencing the process is that much more engaging and impacting. I hope to be able to contribute my knowledge to the company and its projects. I want to learn to combine my creativity with these projects, and I hope to find enjoyment in what I do during this internship. I have always loved being creative and learning about marketing, so being able to combine the two would be the perfect career for me. Finally, I want to be able to show that I made a positive impact on the company at the end of this experience.

Maddie

Madalyn Hill is a Junior Marketer plying her wares at beLithe. Madayln will start her senior year at University of Dayton this fall.

Coming into this spring semester, I wasn’t very optimistic at landing a summer internship. I had been so busy with academics, football, and my extra curriculars that I had virtually no time to even look for an internship.

Ironically, I work for Wabash College’s Career Services department. I received an email from one of my employers at school letting me know about the final day to apply for the TechPoint Xtern internship. I’m nowhere near being a tech guy, so I was reluctant to apply for a marketing position knowing that I didn’t have any tech experience. Understanding that it was the last day to apply, I wasn’t expecting to receive any response at all. My thinking was that they had already selected the candidates. Surprisingly I received an email saying that I had advanced to the next round.

In this next round, I was tasked with creating a press release to showcase my capabilities as a marketing intern. This assignment that took me nearly 6 hours to complete. Perhaps that was too much time to put into it, but I’m naturally thorough when I work on projects that interest me. Also, I’m a huge overthinker which made me think twice about every word I wrote. This was nothing more than the perfectionist in me, a helpful yet problematic flaw. Despite my own self-doubt I received another email letting me know I would be moving on in the hiring process. At this point I was confident that I would be selected because I figured that once given an interview I can convince anyone that I am a good asset to their team, after all I am a Rhetoric major. And I did.

I was contacted by Christopher Daily of just to have a casual conversation about beLithe as a company. I wanted to know what agile training was first and foremost but also how to become apart of the company. Sure enough one conversation turned into another and sprouted into a summer position doing research and marketing. I was elated to have an internship at all after searching for the better part of the spring semester. It never actually hit me as to how important being an Xtern was until one of my superiors at work (Roland Morin) explained to me that only two Wabash students were selected to participate in this entire program. Hours before, I found out I would’ve been happy with any internship and knowing that I got something that very few people have is still sinking in for me. Knowing that I am one of two students selected I made it a personal goal to represent Wabash well. I expect to be challenged and I am looking forward to the uncomfortable parts of this summer that will help me grow. I’ve been given the opportunity to work in a unique space with a unique company and make unique connections which I’ve been able to realize on my first day of work this summer.

Andrew

Andrew Tandy is a Junior Trainer plying his wares at beLithe. Andrew will start his senior year at Wabash College this fall.

This is pretty cool. I get to welcome our second intern. Maddie Hill has joined beLithe as a intern hailing from the University of Dayton where she is a marketing major. Since joining beLithe, Maddie has been getting familiar with what beLithe is about and what we do. Similar to Andrew, Maddie will be working on a very challenging marketing project: Maddie Hill. Maddie will be producing a weekly blog post which we will post here.

Maddie got her first taste of Scrum training on Friday at ElevenFifty. It was a one day class. Over the course of the summer, I am hoping to provide an opportunity for both Maddie and Andrew to attend more classes and take a certification test.

In addition to marketing herself, Maddie is going to work on helping out with a variety of activities for beLithe, primarily focused on marketing and content. I am excited that Maddie is joining our beLithe team, and I look forward to working with her over the next couple of months.

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